


Hush

by yayhwan



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, I'm still figuring out the course of this story, Implied Sexual Content, It may have more angst in the coming chapters, M/M, Misunderstandings, No Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-20 05:37:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8237933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yayhwan/pseuds/yayhwan
Summary: Prince Park is sick of the never-ending paparazzi. In a sudden urge to escape, he convinces his parents that attending an American university is a golden opportunity for him. Jinyoung’s personal guard and best (read: only) friend Jaebum joins him on his adventure in America.However, on his first day at UCLA Jinyoung nearly gets run over by a guy on a motorcycle. And the asshole doesn’t even apologize. The motorcyclist turns out to be a popular, but mysterious guy called Mark Tuan. He’s also Jinyoung’s new roommate.





	1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

 

 *****  
** **Four months before**

Jinyoung exits the hotel and jogs to the car which is waiting for him by the sidewalk. People are pushing around him and Jaebum is by his side to at least  _attempt_  to hold them off. Once he’s safely in the car, he slumps in his seat and sighs. 

“I can’t even leave a _hotel_ without being pushed around.”

Jaebum chuckles, “Well, you  _were_  there for official business. So it makes sense that there were reporters, and you know that people take every chance they can get to catch a glimpse of you.”

“I hate it.”

“Then you shouldn’t have been born into your family.” Jaebum deadpans.

“Oh, fuck you.” Jinyoung crosses his arms and sulks.

“If you’re sick of the paparazzi, you can always ask your parents if you can study abroad.”

“As if they’ll ever agree to that, hyung. You know that they’re petrified that something will happen to me.”

“I’ll join you.”

Jinyoung scoffs, “As if  _that_  will help keep me safe.”

“Yah! Do you think I’m just here for you to have someone to whine to?”

“Uh, yeah? Is that not why you’re here?”

His bodyguard shakes his head defeatedly. The car pulls up and Jinyoung finally allows himself to relax. At least he’s safe from the reporters here.

It takes them a good while to arrive at the large mansion where his family stays during the summer. Jaebum escorts him inside, but soon takes off because Jinyoung doesn’t need constant surveillance when he’s home.

He’d go crazy if he did.

Jinyoung enters their private library to grab a couple of books before he heads to the backyard and takes a seat by the pool. The sun is still shining and he smiles to himself. Today is a pretty good day.

He doesn’t know where his parents are, but he assumes that they’re busy (they always are). It’s not like he minds anyway. His mother would want to have a conversation with him if she were here and he prefers to read.

Jinyoung settles down on one of their lounge chairs and opens his book to continue reading from where he left off.

 

 *****  
** **Two months before**

He stares at the picture. Jinyoung didn’t think this would happen. He isn’t sure what to think, let alone what to say. His mother is upset and his father is mostly just frustrated.

“What were you  _thinking_?” His father asks and Jinyoung imagines that the answer is ‘I wasn’t’.

Instead, he shrugs.

“Jinyoung-ah, I know this is difficult for you, but you do have a certain role to fulfill and this behaviour simply isn’t appropriate.”

“I know, mum.”

“Who is he anyway?”

He shrugs again, “Just a guy I met. It’s not anything serious.”

“You need to stop seeing him. These pictures need to be swept under the rug. No one can find out about this.” His father interjects.

Even though he disagrees, Jinyoung nods.

“I’m glad you think so, too.” His father’s smug smile makes that he has to try  _really_  hard not to roll his eyes.

He doesn’t think that skinship with another guy is anything to be ashamed of. He’s known that he is other than straight for so long now, and he’s always had to hide it.

This is the first time his parents even catch a glimpse of what’s really going on in Jinyoung’s private life, but even _this_ isn’t enough for them to question his sexuality.

“May I be excused?” He asks as he stands from his seat.

When his mother nods, he exits the dining room and heads to the kitchen, knowing that Jaebum is probably hanging around there somewhere.

Once he sees Jaebum sneak some food from the kitchen, he follows.

“Hey! Hyung, wait for me!” He jogs after the guy and he grins broadly once he finally catches up.

“How did dinner go?” Jaebum asks, handing him one piece of chicken that Jinyoung gratefully accepts.

“Bad.” He grunts, his mouth stuffed with chicken already.

“And you still don’t want to ask if you can go to that university in America that we found?”

Jinyoung hums, “I don’t know.”

“C’mon, Jinyoung-ah. We both know you want to do this as badly as you want to read books every minute of every day.”

He chuckles and looks over to his best - and only - friend with a smile.

“You know I’m right.”

“Yeah, you are.” Jinyoung sighs, “I’ll ask them tomorrow.”

 

 *****  
** **One month before**

Today isn’t exactly the ‘tomorrow’ Jinyoung told Jaebum a month ago, but at least he’s gathered the courage to ask his parents if he can go study abroad.

He’s standing in front of his parents, shifting from one foot to the other and rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“No.” His mother says, shaking her head firmly.

Jinyoung’s eyes widen slightly at the definite refusal. He can’t hide his disappointment. His face falls and he looks down to the floor for a few seconds, trying not to let this initial response get him down.

What surprises him, is his father’s reply: “Why not? It might be just what he needs to improve his English and he’ll get the higher education we wanted him to get. What’s so wrong with letting him study abroad?”

“It’s too dangerous. He could get hurt and we wouldn’t be able to help him from here.”

“But Jaebum-hyung will join me...”

She cut him off: “It’s still too dangerous.”

Jinyoung sighs, unsure how to continue his plea to study at UCLA in America. He decides to put his natural talent for acting to good use. “But mom...”

“I said no, Jinyoung.”

He blinks back some tears. “But I’m so sick of  _always_  having reporters around to document and photograph my every move. Why can’t I just at least try to live a normal life abroad?”

The alarmed look on his mother’s face means that she doesn’t realize he’s not actually  _this_  upset about the paparazzi. He _is_ genuinely fed up with always having to be careful of what to do and how to act, but not enough to really cry about it.

“I don’t know, Jinyoung-ah... I’m just worried about you...” She tells him, her voice softer than before.

“I get that. I do, I just—” His voice breaks and a quiet sob escapes him, “I really want to do this. And I can take care of myself! And Jaebum-hyung will be there to make sure I’m okay... And it’s not like I’m safer here. People know who I am here, and I doubt that I’ll get recognised in America...”

He can see that his mother’s at least  _thinking_  about his proposal now, which is good, because he’s sick and tired of all the media attention all the time. Jaebum was right, he really does want to study abroad.

“I’ll discuss it with your father.” His mom says. His dad has wisely kept his mouth shut after Jinyoung started to cry.

Jinyoung sniffs again and wipes at his eyes. “Really?”

“Of course.”


	2. Asshole

**ASSHOLE**

*****  
** **One week before**

He grabs a hold of Jaebum’s hand as the plane starts to descend. The elder looks over to him, his eyebrows raised slightly, but he doesn’t say anything and he doesn’t pull away.

Jinyoung has been scared of flying for as long as he can remember. His parents say that it’s because of the near plane crash they were in when he was only a child. Jinyoung doesn’t care about the cause, he just knows that he hates planes and he hates how terrified they make him. Especially since he has to fly relatively frequently. He _is_  a prince, after all.

Luckily Jaebum knows about what happened and he knows that flying scares Jinyoung, so he squeezes his hand and doesn’t let go until they’re safely on the ground.

It sucks that Jinyoung’s hands are clammy. They land and he releases the breath he didn’t know he was holding. Jinyoung hurries off the plane with Jaebum in tow. They’re at LAX and they take along their hand luggage as they head into the airport.

It’s actually refreshing that there’s no one around to take pictures of him. And somehow it's nice to be rudely shoved aside by a guy in a hurry. Jinyoung is relatively sure that Jaebum enjoys not having to worry so much about crowds as he has to back in Korea.

They take a taxi from the airport to their dorm.

When they arrive, they find out that they're not roomed together. Jaebum doesn't seem to like the idea of rooming with someone other than him. Jinyoung expects that his parents won't like the fact that he'll share a room with a stranger, but he's excited about it.

“Hyung, it's fine. I don't mind.”

Jaebum looks over to him, a frown creasing his forehead. “Your parents—”

“I will tell them. This is my decision anyway.”

A few people that pass by give them a weird look. He assumes it’s because they’re speaking a language that’s foreign to them, but Jinyoung pays them no mind. He knows that neither him or Jaebum feel incredibly confident about their English, so they probably won't converse in a language other than Korean when it’s just the two of them.

“I'll take my stuff to my dorm. Why don't you do the same? We've got our American phones and each other's numbers, so if I need you, I'll call.”

He pats Jaebum's shoulder before starting to drag his large suitcase down the corridor, to the elevator.

Jinyoung wonders who his roommate might be. He hopes it's someone nice, someone who might be willing to help him out, since his English is still lacking.

The dorm is empty when he arrives, although it's clear that there's someone else who's already settled in here. There are posters and a couple of books. A laptop and a closet filled with men’s clothing.

Jinyoung turns to his own side of the dorm and starts to carefully unpack the collection of books he's taken along. Most of them are by Korean authors, but some are English. He loves reading so much that he spent a good few days selecting the books he wanted to take along to America.

Once all his things are in their rightful place, Jinyoung tucks his new phone into the pocket of his trousers and heads out. He wants to go explore the campus grounds.

It's still a week before classes start, but Jinyoung wants to be prepared. He also wants some coffee, because even though he did manage to sleep on the plane a little, he could use something to stay awake until nightfall.

They took off from Incheon airport at 3 pm, and when they arrived at LAX it was half past 10 in the morning, local time. So Jinyoung has a long day ahead of him. He imagines he'll head to bed early tonight. Still, that doesn’t mean he won't have to get through the rest of this first day.

It doesn't take him very long to find a small coffee place. He's surprised to see that the person behind the counter is also Asian.

How big is the Asian community at UCLA, really? Because if there are a lot of Korean exchange students, he might be in trouble.

Jinyoung walks up to the counter and looks at the displays to check out the different coffees they serve. He’s nervous to start talking English, but he knows that it's inevitable, seeing as he's in America right now.

The guy behind the counter waits for him to order. He's smiling brightly and Jinyoung wonders briefly is this is just a mask he wears to get through the long days of work.

“Um... A double espresso, please.” Jinyoung says slowly, trying to pronounce everything in the best accent he can muster.

“You got it, man!” The barista is still smiling his broad smile while he makes Jinyoung his drink. “There you go! That's two dollars, please.”

For a second, Jinyoung is petrified. He isn't used to paying with US dollars and he's not sure if it's customary to pay by card for such small prices. Eventually he finds a five dollar bill in his wallet and hands it over.

It's only when the dark-haired barista looks down to get him his change, that Jinyoung has the good sense to read his name tag.

“Youngjae?” He questions softly and Youngjae looks up to him.

Jinyoung frowns. “Are you Korean?”

He didn't think it'd be possible, but Youngjae's smile brightens even more and Jinyoung can't help but smile back.

“Yeah man! I'm from Korea! You too?”

He nods and quickly shifts to a language he's much more comfortable in. “Yes, I just arrived today.”

The fact that Youngjae's smile doesn't falter and he gives an understanding nod indicates to Jinyoung that the guy knows Korean just fine.

“Welcome to America!” His smile is still as bright as ever, “If you run into any trouble, I've been here for about a year already, so I'd be happy to help you out! It's really nice to meet you, uh...” Youngjae trails off.

Jinyoung's mind blanks briefly before he starts to worry. If Youngjae is Korean, he might know what he looks like, if that's combined with his name – however common it was – he may be found out. So instead of giving his actual name, he gives the name foreigners use sometimes, when they have trouble pronouncing ‘Jinyoung’. “You can call me Junior.”

“It's really nice to meet you, Junior!” Youngjae beams at him.

He smiles back with his brightest smile. Youngjae seems to genuinely be this happy and Jinyoung is happy he knows someone else on campus now, apart from Jaebum.

Finally, Youngjae remembers the change he's still holding and quickly hands Jinyoung three dollars and his coffee.

The prince exits the coffee shop and continues his exploration of the school grounds. Even though he wanted to study abroad, Jinyoung is worried that he may have a hard time living a normal life. After all, he's just not used to it.

Since there's no reporters or paparazzi around, he's free to do anything he wants to do. But that doesn't mean that this freedom doesn't scare him. He has no idea what to do with the fact that no one’s around to analyse his every word and document his every move.

His phone rings and he fishes the device out of his pocket. Of course it's Jaebum who's calling (who else would?).

“Hey hyung! How's your dorm room?”

Jaebum answers in a flat voice. The one he always uses when _someone_ (mostly Jinyoung) works on his nerves. “Save me from my roommate. _Please_.”

Jinyoung laughs at his bodyguard, but turns to head back to the dorms anyway. He wants to know what kind of person Jaebum is roomed with to warrant such a response.

“I'm on my way now. Why is he so—” He's cut off by a voice he doesn't recognise.

The guy is speaking English and he's talking fast, so Jinyoung has a hard time keeping up. “Heeeey! Are you JB's boyfriend? He told me he came here with a friend, but I mean, c'mon, we both know what that means. Besides, I don't judge! Anyway, I'd love to meet you, I'm Jackson. I'm from Hong Kong, but I came here a couple of years ago. So are you coming over?”

“Uh...”

“Honestly, I didn't know who I would room with now that Mark has kicked me out, but I think me and JB are hitting it off just fine! Although he does seem a little grumpy at the moment. Is he always like this?”

Jinyoung doesn't answer, he's far too busy trying to comb through the large amount of information he received, in an attempt to understand the gist of what the guy's saying. At least he knows that Jackson has already shortened Jaebum's name to JB. He imagines that's part of why Jaebum is unhappy with the Hong Kong native.

He frowns when Jackson’s voice suddenly sounds muffled. He hears some grunts and yelps, but then Jaebum is on the phone with him again.

“Sorry about that. How about I meet you outside?” Jaebum suggests, slightly breathless from his struggle with Jackson to get his phone back.

“Sure. Sounds good. I'll see you soon, hyung!”

 

*****  
** **Three hours before**

_Monday morning_. Jinyoung groans and drags a hand over his face. He’s exhausted.

It’s the first day of class and Jinyoung feels anything _but_ prepared. His biological clock hasn’t gotten used to the time difference yet, his limited conversations with the people around here have gone slowly and with some difficulty and he finds himself searching for the English translations of words he wants to use; words he only knows in Korean.

If he’s being honest, he feels like shit. Which doesn’t bode well for him, because he _really_ wants today to go well. After all, this is his only chance at a normal life. People won’t be nice to him because he’s a prince. They don’t _know_ he’s a prince and that’s the entire point of this experience.

He still hasn’t gotten the chance to meet his roommate, but he’s hopeful that he’ll meet the guy when classes start.

Which is today.

Jinyoung showers, has breakfast, brushes his teeth and gets dressed (not specifically in that order). He got up early and he’s not exactly happy about it, but at least now he has enough time to prepare before his first lecture starts.

He packs his bag quietly.

Jinyoung hopes people will take the time to get to know him, even with the difficulties he has with English. He’s nervous that people won’t like him and he’s terrified that coming here is the worst decision he’s ever made.

Jaebum’s classes are different from the ones Jinyoung chose, so he can sleep in today. If Jackson doesn’t wake him, that is. Jinyoung can’t help but smile at the idea.

 

*****  
** **Four minutes before**

Jinyoung is walking to class from the dorm. The weather in LA is still really nice. It’s about 26 degrees Celsius today. He’s wearing a white shirt, which he tucked into his jeans and he folded his jeans at the bottom. He’s wearing sneakers and a plaid shirt. He has a one-shoulder bag with him, which contains a notebook, pens and some books he has to read for the different courses he’s taking. He looks down to his sneakers with a smile, because he’d never be able to wear these clothes in Korea. There, he has to wear suits or at least more formal wear than this.

He crosses the street. The sun is shining in his eyes and he wrinkles his nose, holding up a hand to see where to go. The sound of a motor is suddenly startlingly close and Jinyoung can _just_ move out of the way when a motorcyclists drives past him, only inches away. He loses his balance and falls to the ground, landing on his butt.

The motorcyclist turns and stops his bike, flipping up the visor of his helmet. Jinyoung looks up to see two wide eyes staring at him.

“Yah!” He calls angrily to the motorcyclist. “Watch where you’re going!”

The guy just observes him for a good few seconds before he flips down his visor and continues on his way.

Jinyoung crawls onto his feet and shouts “Hey!”, angry that he didn’t even ask if he’s okay. There’s no response. Honestly, he’s not even sure if the motorcyclist heard him. Jinyoung grits his teeth together and he hits some sand off his clothes.

 

*****  
** **Seventeen minutes after**

He’s taken a seat in class, his butt hurts from falling before and his relatively good mood is completely ruined. Jinyoung wouldn’t exactly have minded almost being run over by a motorcycle if the guy had apologised, but he hadn’t. That asshole hadn’t even checked if he was _hurt_. He could’ve been badly injured and the motorcyclist wouldn’t have known.

Some people look over to him curiously, because he’s clearly new and when he speaks (which isn’t much), he does have a bit of an accent. He also seems to have rain clouds hanging above his head, with how dark his expression is.

It’s somehow refreshing to not have to smile when he’s grumpy. He likes being able to shove his books back in his bag angrily and push past some people to get out of the lecture hall. He figures it wouldn’t hurt to visit Youngjae at the coffee shop, maybe the younger’s cheerful personality might make him feel a little better.

Youngjae is just serving a customer. They’re talking animatedly about the food they miss from home and how they’ll go back home for during the Christmas break. Jinyoung doesn’t question how easily he’s able to listen in, until Youngjae looks over to him with a smile and says: “Hey hyung!”

It hits Jinyoung that Youngjae and the tall guy were speaking Korean, rather than English.

He steps closer to the two. “Hello, I’m Park Jin—” He stops talking before correcting himself: “Junior.”

“Hey! It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Kim Yugyeom.”

Jinyoung smiles politely to Yugyeom before turning his attention to Youngjae. “Can I have a smoothie please? The mango one.”

He has a few hours to kill before his next lecture begins, so Jinyoung spends some time at the coffee shop with Youngjae and Yugyeom. Both of them are Korean exchange students and Jinyoung is the eldest among the three of them. Jaebum joins them briefly, but he doesn’t stay long because he has a class to go to. Apparently he and Jackson have a lot of the same courses and when the Hong Kong native passed by the coffee shop and spotted JB, he dragged him along so that he wouldn’t have to arrive at the lecture hall alone and this way, they can sit together.

When Jaebum looked at him in a quiet plea to save him from Jackson Wang, Jinyoung only laughed and waved them goodbye.

 

*****  
** **Five hours after**

A groan escapes him as he unlocks the door to his dorm, he stumbles inside and drops his bag next to his bed before collapsing onto his mattress. He curls up on his bed and pulls his pillow over to hide his face.

He’s so tired, it’s insane.

Suddenly, he hears the creak of a chair being pushed back and Jinyoung jerks up, only to stare into the same eyes of the guy who’d nearly caused his death that same morning.

When the motorcyclist in question recognises him too, those eyes widen again and the guy gets up and bolts out the door.

“What the fuck?” Jinyoung mumbles under his breath as he stares at the door that closed after his roommate left.

At least, Jinyoung is assuming that the asshole motorcyclist is his roommate, because why else would he sit at one of the two desks in their room?

He’s too tired for this shit, Jinyoung decides as he plumbs back down on the bed and closes his eyes, drifting off to sleep only seconds later.


	3. Fuck

**FUCK**

 

 *******  
**1 day after**

The sun is shining on his face and Jinyoung blinks a couple of times to get his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness.

He’s still dressed in his clothes from the other day and he spots a sleeping figure on his roommate’s bed.

Jinyoung yawns and stretches his arms above his head.

He finally checks the time and curses under his breath. Hadn’t he set an alarm? He should’ve been at the lecture by now!

Jinyoung hurriedly grabs a towel and his shampoo, and jogs into the small bathroom he shares with the asshole with the motorcycle.

Honestly, he has no idea what the asshole’s name is and he’s not sure the asshole will even tell him. Since he’s an asshole, after all.

He undresses and steps into the shower. Jinyoung washes his hair and body as thoroughly as he can without losing too much time. He pushes some stuff into his bag and looks up when the asshole shifts in his bed.

Their eyes meet before the asshole turns around again and keeps sleeping. Jinyoung sighs and closes the curtains a little, so that the asshole won’t get bothered by the sunlight.

Maybe the asshole will be less of an asshole if he’s nice to him.

“Bye.” He mumbles to his roommate before leaving his dorm and jogging across campus to at least _attempt_ to make it to the lecture before the students get a short break. That way, he can take a seat when the break ends and not disturb the class, while still getting part of the information he needs.

“No, no, no!” He shouts as the door to the lecture hall closes just as he rounds the corner. “Fuck!”

Jinyoung buries his face in his hands and – once he’s calmed himself down a little – tries to think of the names of his classmates. He needs to know what this class was about, at _least_. If he could just get someone’s notes, he’d be less screwed than he is now.

“Hey! JB’s boyfriend!” Someone calls and he feels a hand on his shoulder. “Everything alright? Damn, you don’t look so good.”

It’s Jackson. Jinyoung just looks at him, unable to force even the slightest smile on his face, because he’s tired and today _isn’t_ going like he planned. He didn’t even have _dinner_ last night, because he fell asleep as soon as he returned from his classes.

“Too late for class?” Jackson asks, even though he seems to know the answer already. “That’s alright. Bam’s taking that lecture too, I’ll get him to send you his notes, okay?”

While he talks, Jackson gently coaxes him onto his feet and leads him through the building. Before Jinyoung knows it, they’re at the university’s cafeteria.

Jackson lets him take a seat and takes off. Jinyoung doesn’t even worry about whether the Hong Kong native will return or not. He’s too busy worrying. But Jackson returns a good few minutes later, with a plate of food.

He sets the tray down in front of Jinyoung and smiles to him expectantly: “You seem like you could use breakfast. It’s on me.”

“What?” Jinyoung manages to say.

“I don’t want JB to find out that I left his boyfriend to starve.”

He shakes his head. “Jaebum isn’t my boyfriend.”

“Yeah, like I believe that.” Jackson huffs.

Jinyoung sighs and figures he’ll try to convince Jackson that he and Jaebum aren’t together when he isn’t dying from starvation and exhaustion.

(Truthfully, he just feels like crap, but Jinyoung has always been a bit of a drama queen).

“Your name’s Jinyoung, right?”

He nods.

“Alright. So eat, Jinyoung.”

Jackson brought him a bowl of rice, some unknown sauce as well as a variety of vegetables. He got him chopsticks too and Jinyoung snaps them apart before digging in.

Jackson just sits with him, rambling on about his classes, schedule, sports, friends, family, Hong Kong...

“So then I came here and I met Mark and Bambam, and—” He’s cut off by a group of girls that shuffle past them and nervously mumble ‘hello’ to him.

Jinyoung frowns, but he’s too hungry to stop eating and ask what that was about.

“Where was I?” Jackson says as if nothing happened. “Right, so I met Mark and Bambam and we sort of became best friends for life. _Amerithaikong_ , we call ourselves, because Mark’s American, Bambam’s from Thailand and I’m obviously from Hong Kong.” The blond grins to him and he’s glad that Jackson fills the silence between them as he eats.

“Thank you.” Jinyoung tells him, when he finally takes a small break from his meal.

“Anything for JB’s boyfriend!”

He scowls. “I’m not Jaebum’s boyfriend. He’s not even gay!”

“But you are?” Jackson asks. He raises an eyebrow and a playful smile crosses his lips.

Jinyoung’s eyes widen and his face flushes. _Fuck_ , he should’ve been more careful choosing his words.

“No, it’s okay! I swear, I don’t mind! I just noticed that you didn’t deny that _you_  were gay, so...”

He nods a little, trying to calm himself down for the second (or arguably third) time that day.

“I just... I never told anyone.” Jaebum knows about his sexuality, but how could Jinyoung hide anything from the guy who was almost always by his side? He didn’t even have to _tell_ him. One day, Jaebum just _knew_.

“I’ll keep your secret.” Jackson promises.

Jinyoung shakes his head, smiling weakly. “It’s not a secret. I just don’t tell people. It’s none of their business anyway.”

Somehow speaking English with Jackson is less nerve-wracking than usual.

The Hong Kong native grins and nods at him. “Listen, about that lecture you missed. I’ll get Bambam’s notes for you and then I’ll give them to JB, to give to you. Don’t worry too much, okay? I don’t think the English Lit professor cares a lot about attendance.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s fine. We’re all good.” Jackson assures him. He gets up from his seat. “I need to go wake up your boyfriend, otherwise he’ll miss his lecture too.”

“Jaebum’s probably awake already. He isn’t very good at sleeping in.” Jinyoung replies with a smile. “But do what you have to. I’ll just finish this.” He points his chopsticks to the food in front of him.

“Alright. Take care, Jinyoung! See you later!” Jackson waves excitedly before skipping out of the cafeteria.

 

 *******  
**4 days after**

Things are going relatively okay, if you’d ask Jinyoung. He spends a lot of time in the library, trying to write his essays in the best English he can manage. He just hopes that his grades will be good enough so he won’t disappoint either himself or his parents.

His roommate still hasn’t said a word to him. Jinyoung is starting to feel less and less comfortable in his room. He’s tried to initiate conversation, but all the guy does is shrug, nod or shake his head.

Imagine his surprise when his roommate enters the library and is greeted by Jackson shouting: “Hey Mark! Over here!”

The Hong Kong native is sitting with a slim boy who’s maybe a little bit younger than Jackson is. Jinyoung thinks that the boy’s name is Bambam. Which means he’s the person Jackson got notes from to give to him.

It crosses his mind briefly that he should maybe go over there and thank both Jackson and Bambam for their help, but Jinyoung gets distracted.

There’s a small group of girls giggling and peaking to the three guys from behind their books. They basically have heart eyes and Jinyoung leans back a little to observe them. Is the group of guys Jackson called _Amerithaikong_ really this popular?

By then, his roommate (who is apparently called Mark, if Jackson’s loud voice is anything to go by) has taken a seat with Jackson and Bambam. He grins to his friends and actually opens his mouth. And _words_ come out. He’s _talking_.

Jinyoung is shook.

He racks his brain as he tries to remember what he did to deserve the silent treatment, and all he can think of is the fact that he yelled at Mark after almost being _run over_ by him.

Now, that can’t be the reason Mark doesn’t talk to him, right?

He sighs and tries to focus on his paper again. The amount of times he has to grab his Korean to English dictionary is quite astounding. He just wants to write things the way he envisions it, but it’s difficult since his English vocabulary is incredibly limited. It frustrates him to no end.

That’s why he’s actually a little bit relieved when Yugyeom takes a seat next to him and starts poking his arm.

“What?” He sighs to the younger.

“Hyung, I heard you got notes from Bambam. Is that true?”

Jinyoung frowns. “Yes, it is. Why?”

“Do you know him? Can you introduce us?”

He looks Yugyeom over. The younger is rubbing his hands over his jeans, his eyes shifting from him to Bambam, who’s still sitting with Jackson and Mark.

“Why?” He asks again.

Yugyeom quickly squeaks: “No reason!”

Jinyoung narrows his eyes at him and waits for him to just tell him already. Yugyeom sighs.

“I just want to be friends with him, okay? He’s really cool…”

“Alright.” He laughs at the longing look Yugyeom sends in Bambam’s direction. “I don’t really know him though. Jackson was nice enough to get me Bambam’s notes.”

Yugyeom perks up. “So you’re friends with Jackson-hyung? Let’s go say hi!”

Jinyoung groans, but he’s already being pulled off his seat by the over-excited boy. When they’re halfway to the table, Yugyeom suddenly hides behind him.

He walks over anyway. Mark is explaining something to Bambam, but as soon as he meets Jinyoung’s eyes, his mouth snaps shut.

It hurts, somehow. Jinyoung still has no idea what he did wrong. Jackson turns around to see who’s approaching and grins when he sees it’s Jinyoung.

“Hey, JB’s boyfriend again! Don’t you have lectures to miss?”

Jinyoung smiles and shrugs his shoulders briefly. “I don’t have class today. I just wanted to come over to say thank you, for...” He frowns, struggling to find the right words. He starts over: “Bambam’s notes were very helpful. Thank you, both of you.”

“No problem!” Jackson says.

Bambam chimes in: “Yeah, no problem, man!”

He grins back to the two and grabs Yugyeom’s arm, gently tugging him forward. “This is Yugyeom. He’s a friend of mine. I have to study, so I was wondering if he could spend the few hours between classes today with you guys.”

Jackson nods and he pats on the seat next to him. Yugyeom sends him a  _look_  that tells Jinyoung that he’ll pay for leaving Yugyeom to his own devices, but he doesn’t care. He really needs to finish his essay.

Maybe he could get Jackson to read it through before he has to hand it in. He doubts Mark would be willing to help him.

He returns to his messy table filled with books, notes and articles. After he sits down, he looks up to check on Yugyeom and finds that Mark is staring at him. The guy quickly averts his gaze when their eyes meet and Jinyoung decides pointedly to pay him no mind. Instead, he shifts his gaze to Yugyeom, who’s talking with Jackson and Bambam.

A small smile tugs up Jinyoung’s lips. Mission accomplished.

 

 *******  
**6 days after**

It’s Sunday morning. Jinyoung isn’t exactly pleased with the paper he’ll have to hand in tomorrow, but at least it’s finished. He didn’t want to worry about it anymore, so he and Jaebum are gonna go hang out. That way they can ensure Jinyoung doesn’t spend another day working on the essay in an attempt to perfect it.

Jaebum knocks on his door at 10 o’clock. Mark stirs in his bed and mumbles something incoherent to no one in particular. Jinyoung thinks that that might be the very first time he’s actually heard Mark’s voice.

He shakes his head and steps to the door to open up.

“Hyung!” He greets Jaebum with a bright smile.

“Why did you want to meet this early? We could’ve slept for a few more hours.”

“Don’t be so grumpy, hyung. It’s good for you to stop slacking so much. Otherwise, how will you ever get used to our schedule back in Korea again?”

He grumbles, “So what’s the plan?”

“Well, you’re obviously in need of coffee. So let’s do that first.”

“Sure.”

They step out of the dorm and Jinyoung closes the door quietly. They walk to the coffee place on campus out of habit. It’s a lot more crowded than usual, probably because no one has any classes to attend today.

He’s glad that the coffee shop is open on Sundays. Jinyoung thought that maybe they would have to find another place to have coffee.

Once they get their coffee, they leave again. Jaebum has decided that they’ll take the bus into town.

Jinyoung didn’t expect for it to be an hour-long bus drive from campus to downtown LA, but it is. By the time they arrive, he already feels exhausted. It’s 11:30 and Jinyoung pesters his bodyguard with the fact that “I’m _starving_ , Jaebum-hyung! Aren’t you supposed to take _care_  of me?”

The elder just smiles at him and shakes his head. Both of them were allowed to pick one activity for their time in the city centre of Los Angeles today and, as Jaebum so kindly manages to point out, having lunch isn’t the activity Jinyoung chose.

Both of them agree to start with Jaebum’s activity, so they head down to Grand Park. Jinyoung takes a seat on a park bench and opens the novel he brought along. He settles on his beautiful spot in the sun and smiles to himself as he’s already so emerged in the story that he’s blind to the outside world.

Jaebum, on the other hand, seizes this opportunity of momentary freedom to wander around and leave Jinyoung to his own devices. The younger doesn’t even realize that his bodyguard has gone off somewhere until someone takes a seat beside him and it’s not Jaebum.

The elderly woman now seated next to him, looks at his book curiously. It’s a book by a Korean author, so the text on the cover is written in Hangul.

“What language is that?” She asks, pointing at the novel Jinyoung is holding.

“Korean.”

“Are you from Korea?”

Jinyoung nods.

“Are you a student?”

“Yes, at UCLA.”

“Your parents must be very proud of you for pursuing higher education.”

“I hope so.” Jinyoung mumbles, but he really isn’t sure if they are proud of him at all.

“How old are you?”

“I’m, uh... I’m 19 years old.”

“Such a handsome young boy.” She beams at him and he smiles back.

“Thank you, ma’am.” Jinyoung gets distracted from their conversation when Jaebum places a hand on his shoulder.

“Ready?” The elder asks. He speaks English, if only to be polite to the grandma Jinyoung was talking to.

He nods and stands up, bowing to the lady without thinking about the difference in culture between Korea and the US, “Have a nice day, ma’am.”

“Oh, such manners.” She laughs at him and waves them goodbye as he and Jaebum walk off.

Their next stop is the food market, because Jinyoung has started to whine about how hungry he is again and Jaebum actually kind of feels the weight of his empty stomach as well.

As they walk through Grand Central Market, Jinyoung wanders from one stand to the other, taking in the wide variety of foods there, while Jaebum treads behind him.

After lunch, the visit to a contemporary art museum (which was Jinyoung’s activity) and a brief shopping spree, they take the bus back to the dorm.

Both of them are quite worn out by the long day, but since neither of them have an early class on Monday, they settle on Jinyoung’s bed and watch a bunch of W episodes. To their surprise, both of them really like the drama, whereas usually it’s only Jinyoung who enjoys watching the drama’s they select.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so, so sorry that this update took as long as it did. I'll try to get back to weekly updates, but I don't think I can promise anything.
> 
> Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter! 
> 
> Please note that I changed a couple of things about the archive warnings and rating, mainly because I'm contemplating how much shit I'm going to throw at Jinyoung. So... yeah, I'll figure that out somewhere along the way, I guess :P


	4. Stupid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for the delay on this update! I have been watching so much Korean drama that I didn't have time to get this story down on paper :P

**STUPID**

 

*******  
**7 days after**

The alarm clock goes off a little too early the next morning. He slams his hand on the device in an attempt to quiet it and curls back around the warmth in his bed.

His foggy brain doesn't register that the body of warmth in bed next to him is an actual person. When he finally does, he opens his eyes to find a sleeping Jaebum curled up next to him.

Jinyoung climbs over his friend to exit his bed and he starts his morning routine.

Again, it's his classes that start before Jaebum's. So when he's ready, he gently shakes Jaebum awake. “I have to leave for class. I'll see you later, hyung.”

Jaebum grumbles something incoherent in reply and Jinyoung heads out.

When he arrives at the lecture hall, he finds that Bambam is taking this class as well. The seat next to the boy is unoccupied, so Jinyoung walks over.

“Is this seat taken?”

Bambam smiles and says, “No, man. Go ahead!”

He sits down and takes out his notebook and a pen. Bambam has a laptop open in front of him to take notes.

“You're that friend of Jackson's roommate. Your name's Jinyoung, right?” Bambam checks.

“Yeah, that's right.”

“I thought Jackson said you were Korean?”

“Yeah, and you're Thai?”

Bambam nods proudly.

“I always thought people had super complicated names in Thailand...”

“Bambam is a nickname my parents gave me.” The boy tells him.

“Ah.” Jinyoung hums, that explains a lot. “Isn't that a Flintstone's character?”

The younger laughs and nods. “Yeah, it is.”

They have to shut up when their professor enters. This woman's relatively strict, and honestly, neither of them want to get in trouble.

During the short break, they head to the cafeteria to grab some food. Once they've selected their lunch, they head over to pay.

“Oh.” Bambam suddenly says, checking his bag once more. “I think I forgot my wallet.”

“That's okay. I'll pay for now.”

The younger grins to him, “Really? Thanks!”

After Jinyoung has paid for their food, they walk back to the lecture hall. They eat their lunch quickly, because some teachers don't approve of the student having food during lectures.

Most students still manage to sneak the occasional snack in though.

 

*******  
**11 days after**

“Do you know what your boyfriend told me?” Jackson asks.

They're sitting at the coffee shop while Youngjae works. Mark is there as well, but more for the coffee than for the company, it seems. The bags under the elder’s eyes speak volumes.

“Hm?” Jinyoung hums, he's given up on trying to get Jackson to stop calling Jaebum his boyfriend.

“That September 22 is your birthday.” The Hong Kong native tells him with a huge grin playing on his lips.

Jinyoung groans and buries his face in his hands. “Please don't plan a party for my—”

“Too late!” Jackson interrupts, “I've already got everything sorted. You just keep Saturday evening free. That's the 20th. I'll take care of the rest!”

Another groan escapes him before he turns to Mark. “Does he always do this?”

The elder shakes his head, an amused smile playing on his face.

“Great.” He sighs.

“Yeah, I've given up on parties for Mark. His birthday was actually a couple of weeks ago.” Jackson explains.

Jinyoung’s eyes widen. “Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't know. Happy birthday!”

The smile Mark sends him is beautiful and bright and Jinyoung suddenly isn't sure whether this guy hates him or not. Jackson also seems to think it's perfectly normal that Mark does seem to talk to him, but not to Jinyoung.

He doesn't know what to think, but he's curious about Mark and why he still hasn't uttered a single word to him.

“I gotta get to training, so I'll see you guys later. Mark, you're gonna be at Jinyoung's birthday party too!” Jackson points at him and narrows his eyes.

Mark shrugs in reply, even though it wasn't a question.

When Jackson heads out, Jinyoung is suddenly left alone with his roommate, who hasn't spoken to him whatsoever. And they've been roommates for about half a month now.

“You wanna head out? I feel like going to the park.”

The American shrugs.

“You can come along if you like.”

He gets a nod in reply, so Jinyoung gets up and gathers their mugs, bringing them back to Youngjae and wishing him good luck for the rest of his shift at the coffee shop.

As they saunter to the park, Jinyoung takes the time to actually _look_  at Mark properly. He's wearing an oversized sweater and ripped jeans, his sneakers are that of a famous American brand and his hands are hidden by the sweater sleeves. His hair is dyed to a light brown and his skin is about as smooth as skin gets.

Jinyoung is astounded with the _beauty_  of the man next to him. He wonders briefly how old Mark is now, would they be the same age?

“I really like going to the park.” He mumbles softly, keeping a close eye on Mark to see his response.

The guy nods and Jinyoung thinks that he might like the park too, with how big his smile is. Their eyes meet and Jinyoung has a hard time not staring at them longer than normal.

He quickly looks in front of him again, jumping slightly when Mark suddenly grabs his hand and leads him to a specific place in the park.

“Where are we going?” Jinyoung asks. Which is stupid, because by now he should know that yes or no questions are the only ones he gets a definite answer to.

Mark points to something in the distance and keeps dragging him along, so Jinyoung follows.

The smile on Mark's lips makes him smile too as they near the location Mark seems to be taking him to. It doesn't take very long for Mark to slow his pace and release Jinyoung's hand from his grip. The younger looks around and his smile widens.

“This is amazing.” He whispers, more to himself than to his roommate, but Mark nods in reply.

Jinyoung decides that Mark isn't such an asshole after all. He just doesn't talk, or doesn't talk much and honestly, Jinyoung can live with that.

It seems as though Mark doesn't hate him as much as he thought he did. Which is good, especially since he feels as though he and Jackson have become friends by now. And Jackson and Mark are friends too.

As he looks out over part of the park and most of campus, he grins. The sun is shining brightly through the trees around them. He can see the small figures of students running across campus or lazily lying in the grass, waiting for their next lecture to start. Things like this, he supposes, is what he missed in Korea. Although this is only part of the long list of things he has yet to see, do or experience. How on earth will he be able to conform to his role and status again, back in Korea, when he's been here and experienced what freedom is like?

Mark gently touches his arm, grabbing his attention. The guy gives him a thumbs up, but his expression seems unsure.

“Yeah, it's great.” Jinyoung answers the question he thinks Mark wanted to ask.

The guy shakes his head, points at Jinyoung and then gives a thumbs up with a questioning face.

“Are you asking if I'm okay?”

Mark nods quickly.

“Yeah. I'm fine. Why?”

The elder seems at a loss when Jinyoung asks that question. Stupid, stupid,  _stupid._ He should've known that it isn’t easy for Mark to answer that without using his voice.

“Ah.” Jinyoung laughs, “Jaebum-hyung always says that I can seem sad when I'm thinking. So you don't have to worry: I'm good. How are you?”

Mark grins and gives him another thumbs up, this time without the worried expression on his face.

He chuckles, “Good.”

*******  
**19 days after**

It's Saturday morning and Jinyoung hasn't slept very well at all. The idea of celebrating his birthday during a party planned by Jackson Wang is worrisome at the very least. Besides, he's nervous since he has no idea what he can expect.

Mark is still sleeping and Jinyoung decides to just head out of their room, in order to not wake Mark up.

As he wanders around the dormitory, he comes across a room he hasn't seen before. It kind of makes sense for there to be a room he doesn't know, because the only routes he takes are the one from the front door to his dorm and back, and the route between his room and Jaebum's and Jackson's.

It seems to be a common room and it's empty at that, so Jinyoung enters, looking around curiously.

The room is quite big, with a long couch on one end and mirrors on the other. There's a sound system and a beamer too. Jinyoung walks over to the stereo and checks out the music. It's barely anything he recognises, although there  _are_ some Beyoncé, Justin Bieber and Chris Brown songs available.

He grabs the cable that's attached to the stereo and plugs his phone in. It doesn't take him long to find the Korean pop song he likes best and he cranks up the volume a little before hurrying to close the door to the room, leaving him alone.

It's then that Jinyoung is glad he's still wearing his sweatpants and that he had enough sense to slip into his sneakers before leaving his room, because this is appropriate clothing for the dancing he wants to do.

His parents had him attend ballet class, not only to improve his posture, but also for cultural education and discipline. Jinyoung, however, ended up preferring genres like street dance or contemporary dance over ballet.

Which is why he is now moving along with the beat of the song he put on, getting lost in the rhythm. Somehow he's always liked dancing and he's pretty damn good at it too, or so Jaebum tells him. His bodyguard likes dance as well, but he's more into breakdance than anything else.

Jinyoung has been casually moving to the music, when he suddenly takes it up a notch, moving determinedly and a little sensually to the smooth song that was now playing.

After about an hour of dancing to various kinds of music in various styles, he unplugs his phone and heads back to his dorm. He’s a little sweaty from dancing, but he feels good.

Mark's bed is empty, even though the guy usually sleeps in on Saturdays.

Jinyoung grabs a towel and goes into the bathroom to have a shower. When he steps back into the room, trying to dry his hair with his towel, Mark has returned and he's eating his breakfast while watching some TV show on his laptop.

“Oh my god, is that W?” He plumbs onto Mark's bed and moves a little closer to see what episode Mark is on. “I watch this with Jaebum-hyung. It's such a good show!”

Mark smiles and shifts on his bed so Jinyoung can sit next to him a little more comfortably.

“Ah, this episode is so good!” He hits Mark's shoulder excitedly and hops up and down on the bed a little before grabbing a hold of Mark's arm to squeeze when the slightly nerve-wracking scenes play.

They watch a good few episodes together, because Mark isn't nearly as far into the TV series as Jinyoung and Jaebum are.

Halfway through the second episode they watch together, Jinyoung gets cold, since he's only wearing shorts and a t-shirt. He receives one of Mark's sweaters and gets to move his bare legs under Mark's duvet cover.

Most of their day is wasted by watching W together, but Jinyoung doesn't mind. He's had a really good time just sitting with Mark and hearing him gasp when there was a sudden plot twist.

It's about 4:30 pm when Jinyoung gets off of Mark's bed and starts getting dressed.

“Mark? Can I keep this sweater on today? It's so comfortable.”

The elder nods and waves as if to say 'yeah, go ahead'.

So Jinyoung changes, but keeps Mark's sweater, knowing that he may actually hold onto it until he has to return to Korea. Unless Mark doesn't want him to, of course.

Around dinnertime, there's a knock on their door and, much to Jinyoung's surprise, both Jaebum and Jackson are standing there.

Jackson frowns a little at the sight of Jinyoung's sweater, but eventually shrugs and walks over to Mark.

“Jinyoung-ah, because I don't have time to have dinner with you on your birthday, let's go eat together now.” Jaebum says. He's speaking Korean, even though Mark and Jackson are still in the same room as them.

“Did you choose a restaurant already?”

“Jackson chose one for us. He wants us gone so he can prepare your surprise party.” Jaebum tells him when they're already walking through the hallway, towards the exit.

“Shit. I forgot about that.” Jinyoung says, pushing his hands in the front pocket of Mark's sweater.

“Which is why I'm reminding you.”

“Thanks, hyung.”

Jaebum frowns, “Is that a new sweater? I haven't seen it before.”

“No, I borrowed it from Mark.”

"I didn't think you liked him. Weren't you under the impression that he hated you? Didn't you say that he was rude?"

Jinyoung scowls at him, "Well, _yeah_ , but that's just because he doesn't talk to me. Like, at all. But he smiles now and I watched some W episodes with him and got to borrow his sweater, so I don't think he hates me as much as I thought he did."

"Now that you mention it, I don't think I ever heard Mark talk…"

"I know that he talks with Jackson and Bambam, but I haven't seen him speak to anyone else. I don't know why, but it's not like he can explain, right?" 

The elder hums in reply. By now they're well on their way to the restaurant Jackson selected.

“What are we eating?” Jinyoung asks.

“If I know Jackson a little by now, I'm guessing a simple restaurant with organic products.”

When they arrive at their dining destination, they find out that Jaebum’s guess isn’t entirely wrong. It's a small restaurant that serves dishes made from organic ingredients, but it's everything but simple.

They take a seat at the table that Jackson reserved for them and receive the menu.

Honestly, just figuring out what all of the dishes _are_  seems to be a pretty damn difficult task. They end up ordering what seem like the safe choices on the menu and hoping for the best.

“What time are we expected back at the dorm for my surprise party, which clearly lacks in surprise?” The younger deadpans.

Jaebum chuckles, “About nine, so we've got time.”

At half past eight, Jaebum pays for their dinner and they head back to the dormitory. Jinyoung worries a little about the people that Jackson may have invited and the fact that he should get some time to change clothes before the party commences.

However comfortable Mark's sweater is, it isn't something he would wear to a birthday party.

He isn't sure what sort of clothing is appropriate for a student birthday party, but he's relatively sure it's not nearly as fancy as his parents always have him dress at his previous birthdays. It's not strange that he usually has to wear a tailored suit on his birthday, though. His birthday was never a very private event, since it was used for diplomatic purposes.

So this will be one of his first actual _parties_  and he is both nervous and excited about it.

When they arrive at Jinyoung and Mark's room, it's empty. So he takes this opportunity to grab a button down and jeans and change clothes.

Jaebum goes off to check on his party, but promises to return in order to lead him to the venue.

Once Jinyoung is dressed, he checks himself out in the large mirror they have hanging on the inside of their front door. The corners of his lips tug up a little. He looks pretty good, right? And he thinks he's wearing suitable clothing for a casual birthday party too.

There's a knock on the door and Jinyoung opens up, expecting Jaebum. Instead, he sees Mark. The guy is smiling and looks him over, giving him a thumbs up.

“Thanks.” Jinyoung says, stepping out of their room and locking the door. “I'm assuming you know where my party is?”

Mark nods and points down the hallway. It takes them about five to ten minutes to get to another building on campus. It's a place that students can rent to organise get-togethers or parties. And apparently that's what Jackson has done.

They enter and Jinyoung stops dead in his tracks. The ceiling is covered by the enormous amount of balloons hovering above them. There's a large table with a wide variety of (mostly alcoholic) beverages and the room is packed with people, half of whom he doesn't even recognize. The music is so loud that it rings in his ears and Jinyoung is sure that he'll have gone deaf by tomorrow.

Mark leads him through the already dancing crowd, to the small group of people that Jinyoung _does_  know. Youngjae, Yugyeom, Bambam, Jaebum and Jackson are waiting for them and Jinyoung gets a party hat planted on his perfectly styled hair.

He gets hugged and everyone wishes him a happy early birthday. While Yugyeom and Bambam head off onto the dance floor, Jackson hovers around him like an excited puppy.

“So?” He finally asks when Jinyoung doesn't seem to answer the unspoken question he's been dying to ask.

“So, what?” Jinyoung mumbles, a little confused.

“ _So_ , what do you _think_?”

“Oh! It's, uh... There's a lot of people here.”

“Yeah, there are. It's good, right?” Jackson is looking at him with big, hopeful eyes.

“How do you know all these people?”

The elder's smile fades a little, “Ah, the usual. Friends from class and friends from friends. You need to expand your group of acquaintances anyway, so mingle, Jinyoung!”

Jackson pushes him into the crowd.

Jinyoung tries to take Jackson’s advice, but he finds it hard to talk to new people. Normally, he's pretty social, but right now the language barrier just seems too great for him to feel comfortable around all the native English speakers. So he hangs out with Youngjae instead.

The guy's friendly attitude is a little bit addictive. Jinyoung finds that he laughs out loud more easily with Youngjae around and that's a good thing. It's his birthday party, after all. He needs to have fun, right? And if that doesn't work by trying to make friends with the large amount of strangers in the room, he better just stick to the people he knows can make him smile.

Youngjae's loud laugh rings in his ear. It has only gotten louder with the amount of drinks they had and Jinyoung happily joins in. They're hanging around the snacks, because apparently Youngjae craves snacks when he's tipsy and Jinyoung can't really blame him. He himself has taken his fair share of snacks as well. It seems that once you start eating, it's a lot harder to stop. Even more so now that he feels a little light-headed.

Besides, to ensure that he doesn't get too drunk too quickly, he should keep eating and maybe drink a few glasses of water as well.

At the end of the night, Mark wraps Jinyoung’s arm around his shoulder and leads the younger back to their dorm. He tucks him in before going to look where the hell Jaebum and Jackson have gone off to, since they disappeared somewhere halfway through the evening.


End file.
